As the cultural heartland of Japan in the UK, Japan House London offers unique and imaginative insights into contemporary Japan, its cultures and its people. Visitors are invited to explore, interact with and immerse themselves in Japan’s rich and diverse cultures through a programme of events and exhibitions.
The Visitor Experience team is at the very heart of this mission, guiding visitors with proactive engagement and touchpoints that enable them to deepen and broaden their knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture. Now their innovative and authentic approach to welcoming and engaging visitors, based on the Japanese hospitality concept of omotenashi, has been recognised with the Best Visitor Experience Award at the Cultural Enterprises Awards 2026.
Visitors often comment that they feel welcomed and encouraged to spend time in the space, and Ria Macha, Head of Visitor Experience & Event Operations, says she is beyond proud of the team for the hard work, warmth, attention to detail, and care they put into every visit.
We spoke to Ria to discover how her team is transforming cultural curiosity into lasting value not just for visitors, but also for the organisation and its staff.
So, Ria, we’re intrigued – what is omotenashi?
“Omotenashi is all about anticipating the needs of each visitor before they’ve even expressed them, and ensuring they have pleasant and culturally enriching experiences. A core principle of omotenashi is mutual respect and partnership between the host and guest, with both parties contributing to a positive experience and feeling comfortable and valued. This concept goes beyond conventional hospitality by treating the guest and host as equals, fostering a collaborative relationship rather than a service-based one – which is quite an innovative concept outside of Japan.”
What else makes your visitor experience distinctive?
“Our approach to visitor experience is built around five core values – as well as omotenashi, we also focus on integrity, shared passion, cultivation, and openness.
“Integrity is really important to us – we go directly to the source and only share accurate information with visitors, promoting a deeper level of engagement. That’s why research time for front of house staff is scheduled, not self-directed, and is considered integral to their development — a progressive approach compared with sector norms.
“Every member of our team shares a passion for Japanese culture, which unites us in our mission. As a source of talent and support, our Visitor Experience team works collaboratively with all departments including marketing and communications, retail, events, partnerships, operations, and programming.
“We host cultural workshops including origami, furoshiki (the art of wrapping items in cloth), and kumiko latticework coaster making. We also offer group tours which are tailored to the group’s requirements, creating an opportunity for the Visitor Experience staff to demonstrate their depth of knowledge, and we support the retail business by promoting exhibition-related products and collaborating with the retail team on customer activities such as hands-on workshops.
“These workshops not only enrich visitor experience but also directly contribute to increased product visibility and sales. Our cultural offering of tours and workshops is a relatively new venture, and has amounted to 13.4% of our income generation between April 2024 – December 2025.
“The furoshiki wrapping workshop also promotes environmental sustainability by encouraging clients to replace paper gift wrapping with fabric, a re-usable, zero-waste alternative to paper and plastic bags. Participants learn about the different fabrics available, furoshiki and tenugui, their versatility, their history in Japanese culture, and the significance of adding a personal and thoughtful touch. The workshop is particularly popular around the festive season, and we’re proud to be contributing towards reshaping customs and traditions towards a sustainable future.”
How do you ensure your visitor experience is as accessible as possible?
“Openness is another of our core values. The exhibitions and most public events at Japan House London are free of charge, and our Visitor Experience team is deeply committed to making the institution as accessible and welcoming as possible. We provide large-print materials, portable hearing loops and portable stools, and audio content is available to our visitors via the Bloomberg Connects app.
“We have supported a work placement for a young person with visual impairment and a passion for Japan, offering them their first work experience, but also learning from them and adjusting our tours and visitor experience for those with visual impairments.
“We’ve also delivered object handling sessions for visually impaired visitors, focusing on carved netsuke (miniature decorative Japanese toggles) and aramono (everyday Japanese household objects) and try to include this element in as many of our exhibitions as possible, such as our current exhibition Hyakkō 100+ Makers from Japan, where visitors can experience selected objects by touch.”
How does your approach to visitor experience benefit the rest of your organisation?
“We pride ourselves in our strong and collaborative communication, which doesn’t just flow upwards but across departments. Our Visitor Experience team records their daily interactions with guests through what we call visitor stories, a way for them to document any valuable feedback and meaningful interactions that show how Japan House London is fulfilling its mission and achieving its KPIs. Shared with the entire organisation in our end-of-day reports, as well as with our stakeholders in Japan, visitor stories enable us to see the types of audiences we’re reaching, and build partnerships – they’ve even led to the creation of new events and other initiatives.
“Rooted in another of our core values – cultivation – the knowledge and insights of the Visitor Experience team are highly valued and can often lead to commercial opportunities. Their daily interactions with visitors provide essential insights that actively inform programming, marketing, partnerships, events and operations. By integrating their expertise we can ensure our content resonates with a diverse audience, as well as understanding and demonstrating impact.
“It’s fantastic for staff empowerment and morale too, as Visitor Experience colleagues see and understand how their knowledge is valued.”
A huge thank you to Ria for sharing her team’s unique approach to their award-winning visitor experience. And if that’s inspired you to pay a visit and experience it for yourself, find out more about Japan House London here.
